Stowable seat with reduced vibration and improved locking mechanisms

ABSTRACT

A stowable fold away seat for mounting to a support member of a vehicle wherein a space may be selectively provided for positioning a wheelchair or article adjacent to the stowed seat which includes a frame attached to the support member, two separate seatbacks and seatbases, which have been fixedly integrated with a centered support.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates generally to an improved stowable foldaway seat in a vehicle in order to provide a space for a wheelchair orfor storage of various articles. The invention employs cantileveredfixedly integrated seatbases which pivot on one end from a horizontallydeployed position to a vertically stowed position and from a verticallystowed position to a horizontally deployed position. Further, theseatbases are provided with two integrated seatbacks that have alockable unfolded position, substantially perpendicular to the range ofmotion for the seatbases, as well as a lockable folded positionsubstantially flat against the seatbases.

[0002] The fold away seat is stowed by folding the seatbackssubstantially flat against the seatbases. After folding the seatbacksubstantially flat against the seatbases, the seatbases are unlockedfrom the horizontally deployed position, raised to the vertically stowedposition, and locked in place. The wheelchair or other article may beplaced in the space vacated by the stowed seat.

[0003] At present, the Straughsbaugh Patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,141owned by the C. E. White Co., is known to enable a seatbase which has asupport leg extending from the aisle end of the seatbase, and theMcClintock Patent, U.S. Pat. No, 5,492,389, which is owned by theapplicant, enables a cantilevered, integrated, upholstered seatbase witha one-piece, single seatback. In the Straughsbaugh seatbase, typicallythe aisle leg is fastened to the floor when the seat is down, or tuckedaway when the seat is stowed away. While the known fold away seats asshown by Straughsbaugh have a support leg that can be folded up toprovide space for a user or for storage, this did not disclose, teach,or suggest any cantilevered seatbases which avoids the attendantdifficulties arising from the use of the aisle leg on the seatbaseswhich at times interferes with an operator and requires additional stepsfor stowing. Nor did the Straughsbaugh patent disclose, teach, orsuggest any cantilevered seatbases with separate seating surfaces andintegrated seatbacks utilizing a centered support and bearing to allowthe seat to utilize individual seat shells, reduce the bulk, weight, andamount of material required which avoids the attendant difficulties suchas increased vibration arising when deployed and used for vehicles,including mass-transit vehicles.

[0004] While the McClintock Patent, U.S. Pat. No, 5,492,389, which isowned by the Applicant, the fold away seat has a cantilevered, uniformlyupholstered seatbase with a one-piece, single seatback that can befolded away to provide space for storage, these seats did not disclose,teach, or suggest any cantilevered seatbases with separate seatingsurfaces and seatbacks utilizing a centered support and bearing to allowthe seat to incorporate individual seat shells, reduce the bulk, weight,and amount of material required which avoids the attendant difficultiessuch as increased vibration arising when used for vehicles, includingmass-transit vehicles. Previous fold away seats, whether cantilevered orutilizing an aisle leg, featured materials and designs which wereinappropriate for the purposes of reducing bulk, weight, and amount ofmaterial required thereby preventing the seats from vibrating whendeployed in vehicles.

[0005] Currently, especially when used in mass transit vehicles, it isnecessary for fold away seats to be lighter yet more stable and provideadequately firm seats with reduced vibration. Without the center supportand bearing the seatbacks would be forced to have additional depth andmaterial added to it. The center support and bearing enables thebridging of a smaller span. This reduction in span width enables theseatback to have increased rigidity reduced vibrations without thepenalty of additional material of back depth thickness.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0006] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to providea stowable seat for mounting to a support member of a vehicle wherein aspace may be selectively provided for positioning a wheelchair orarticles adjacent to the stowed seat which includes a frame, wall mount,or floor mount, seatbases, and seatbacks. The seatbacks and seatbasesare separated and fixedly integrated with a centered support bearing orother device to increase rigidity and reduce bulk, weight, materialsused, and vibrations inherent in lightweight stowable seats.Furthermore, the invention includes improved separate lockingmechanisms, comprised of a “down lock” and an “up lock”, which hold theseat in either its horizontally deployed or vertically stowed positionsand are releasable to enable movement to either the vertically stowed orhorizontally deployed positions.

[0007] Consequently, the frame attaches to the support member of avehicle and the cantilevered seatbases have a free end and a pivotableend rotatably associated with the frame which provides the seatbaseswith a range of motion extending from a horizontally deployed positionto a vertically stowed position. The integrated seatbases also haveseparate lock mechanisms, one near the free end to maintain theseatbases in the deployed position, and one near the center of theseatbases to maintain the seatbase in the stowed position. Thesemechanisms use unique opposite acting screws to capture and secure themovement of the cross bar which moves when the seatbases are raised fromthe deployed position to the stowed position and vice versa. The lockmechanisms, which secure the seatbases in the stowed or deployedpositions, work in a manner similar to one another in that the locksenable the adjusting screw in the receiving chamber of the lock tocompensate for any production tolerances or wear that may occur. Theability to remove unwanted space from the receiving chamber of the lockenables the user to cancel out the propensity of the lock and bar torattle against each other while the vehicle is in motion. Therattle/vibration-induced noise is a major complaint against many foldaway seats.

[0008] The integrated seatbacks, which are rotatably associated with theseatbases, have a range of motion extending from an unfolded position toa folded position. In the unfolded position, the range of motion of theseatbacks is substantially perpendicular to the range of motion of theseatbases. In the folded position, the seatbacks are adapted to foldsubstantially adjacent to the integrated seatbases for stowing toprovide the space for a wheelchair or other object.

[0009] The seatbacks are able to fold forward because of support andbearings at each end and in the center of the seatbacks. The centersupport and bearing enables the use of individual seat shells, andwithout the center support bearing, the seatbacks would be forced tohave additional depth and material added to them by way of a single,larger seat shell. The center support and bearing enable bridging asmaller span. This reduction in span width enables the seatbacks to haveincreased rigidity and reduced vibration without the penalty ofadditional material of back depth thickness.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] In order to satisfy the objects of the invention discussedherein, a stowable seat for mounting in a vehicle is provided asillustrated by the accompanying drawings wherein:

[0011]FIG. 1 is a isometric view of the stowable seat illustrating theseatbase in a horizontally deployed position and the seatback in anunfolded vertical position in phantom outline where the illustrationshows the frame, the tracks upon which the T-bar moves, and the “up” and“down” locking mechanisms;

[0012]FIG. 2 is a pictorial view of the stowable seat illustrating theseatback in a folded position and the seatbase in a vertically stowedposition where a wheel chair is illustrated in phantom outline in thespace vacated by the stowable seat;

[0013]FIG. 2A is a rear view of the stowable seat illustrating thecenter strut and center bearing in phantom lines when the seatbacks andseatbases are adjacent to each other prior to moving to either thestowed or deployed position;

[0014]FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the seat in its deployedposition illustrating an enlarged side elevation view of the dumpmechanism that locks the seatbacks in the vertical and horizontalpositions for the purposes of the stowable seat being stowed ordeployed, where the cover of the dump mechanism has been removed;

[0015]FIG. 4 is a view showing how both the deployed locking mechanism54 and stowed locking mechanism 52, including the spring 48, which holdsthe movable T-bar 18 in place when the seat is locked in either thedeployed position or stowed position in the receiving chamber 44 or 45,where the movable T-bar 18 and the screw 46 are illustrated;

[0016]FIG. 4A is a side view of the deployed locking mechanism whichshows the T-bar locked into place within the receiving chamber andsecurely held by the screw, where the motion of the movable T-bar andthe locking mechanism are shown in phantom outline;

[0017]FIG. 4B is a side view of the stowed locking mechanism, whichshows the T-bar locked into place within the receiving chamber andsecurely held by the screw, where the motion of the movable T-bar andthe locking mechanism are shown in phantom outline;

[0018]FIG. 5 is an isometric view of the seatbacks with hard plasticcover which acts as a spacer between the seatbacks where the centerstrut through which the center bearing is run;

[0019]FIG. 5A is a top section taken on a plane pressing through theline A-A and looking in the direction of the arrows, specificallyillustrating the lower interior portions of the seatbacks joined by thelower welded band, specifically illustrating the center strut, thecenter bearing, and the sleeves through which the center bearing runs,showing the sleeves adjacent to both sides of the center strut toeliminate vibration.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0020] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the stowable seat of the invention isgenerally designated by the reference numeral 10. The stowable seatgenerally includes a frame 12, seatbases 14 and 14 a, seatbacks 16 and16 a, and a moving T-bar 18.

[0021] Briefly, in operation, the stowable seat 10 is typically utilizedwith the seatbases 14 in a horizontal deployed position 20 and theseatbacks 16 in a vertical stowed position. The seatbacks 16 and 16 ahave a range of motion as indicated by the arrow A perpendicular to arange of motion of seatbases 14 and 14 a as shown in FIG. 2. Theseatbases 14 and 14 a are supported by the movable T-bar 18. To providespace for a wheelchair 24 or other such article, the seatbacks 16 and 16a are folded over to their folded position closely adjacent to theseatbases 14 and 14 a and the seatbases 14 and 14 a as shown in FIG. 2A.Thereafter the seatbases 14 and 14 a are raised to the vertically stowedposition 28 as FIG. 2 illustrates.

[0022] When the seat 10 is in its deployed position and one desires toput it in its stowed position, the deployed locking mechanism 54 ispressed and the seat 10 can be raised to the stowed position. When thedeployed locking mechanism 54 is pressed the movable T-bar 18 begins toslide along the channels 62 and 62 a into the stowed locking mechanism52. Once the movable T-bar 18 has made contact with the stowed lockingmechanism 52, the stowed locking mechanism 52 is opened so that themovable T-bar 18 slides into place in the stowed receiving chamber 44and held firmly into place by the adjustable screw 46. The adjustablescrew 46 allows for adjustments to be made so as to hold the seat 10firmly into place with minimal vibration. Once in the stowed position,the seat 10 can be further secured by a safety lock 63 rotated to aperpendicular position across the movable T-bar 18.

[0023] To move the seat 10 from its stowed position to its deployedposition, the safety lock 63 must be rotably removed from across themovable T-bar 18. The stowed locking mechanism 52 must be pulleddownward so as to release the movable T-bar 18 to allow it to move alongthe channels 62 and 62 a. The movable T-bar 18 will slide along thechannels 62 and 62 a until it is brought into contact with the deployedlocking mechanism 54. Once the movable T-bar 18 has made contact withthe deployed locking mechanism 54, the deployed locking mechanism 54 isopened so that the movable T-bar 18 slides into place in the deployedreceiving chamber 45 and held firmly into place by the adjustable screw46. The adjustable screw 46 allows for adjustments to be made so as tohold the seat 10 firmly into place with minimal vibration.

[0024] The frame 12 is provided as illustrated in FIG. 1 to mount thestowable seat 10 to a support member 20 that can rest on the floor (notshown) of a vehicle as shown in FIG. 1. To mount the stowable seat 10 toa support member (not illustrated) such as the floor of a vehicle, theframe 12 is provided as illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0025] As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the frame 12 includes a plate 30preferably constructed of steel. Plate 30 is provided with bolt holes 32for bolting to the floor of another support member (not illustrated).The plate 30 is offset from the center of the seatbases 14 and 14 a asillustrated in FIG. 1 to provide space for the passengers' feet. Theseatbases 14 and 14 a are shown as generally rectangular, and havinginner support frames 36 and 36 a as seen in as FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0026] To provide the seatbases 14 with a range of motion from ahorizontal deployed position 20 to the vertically stowed position 28 asFIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate, the inner seat frame 36 is rotativelyassociated with the frame 12 by an axis 42 as FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate.

[0027] The center strut 38 as illustrated in FIG. 5A supports theseatbacks 16 and 16 a in the folded and unfolded positions. A centerbearing 40 runs through the center strut 38 allowing the seat to rotatebetween the folded and unfolded positions. Encasing the center bearing40 are sleeves 50 and 50 a as illustrated in FIG. 5 and 5A. Each sleeve50 and 50 a attaches to the seatback frames 60 and 60 a on one end withthe opposite end coming into close proximity with either side of thecenter strut 38. The seatback frames 60 and 60 a are connected by weldedmetal bands 58 and 58 a as illustrated in FIG. 5.

[0028] The above has been offered for illustrative purposes only and isnot intended to limit the scope of the invention of this application,which is defined in the claims below.

What we claim is:
 1. A stowable seat including two seatbase membersattached together, which are movable through a range of positionsbetween a stowed position and a deployed position, wherein the stowedposition has ability to accomodate an article such as a wheel chairadjacent to the stowable seat when in the stowed position, and saiddeployed position provides for enabling sitting on said stowable seat;comprising: a pair of seat members pivotally mounted on an axisassociated with said frame for moving said seat base members betweensaid stowed and deployed positions; separate cantilevered seatbasesfixedly connected together for the purpose of simultaneously rotating onsaid pivot from said stowed position to said deployed position;seatbacks fixedly connected for purposes of rotatably associating withsaid seatbases, enabling said seatbacks to be moved from a substantiallyparallel folded postion to a substantially perpendicular unfoldedposition by way of rotation, in order that when in said stowed and saidfolded position, said seatback and said seatbase can be rotatedconcurrently to the deployed position enabling the seatback to berotated to an unfolded position for the purposes of being in thedeployed position, and when in said deployed and said unfolded position,said seatbacks can be rotated toward said seatbases to said foldedposition and said seatbacks and said seatbases can be rotatedconcurrently to the stowed position thereafter.
 2. The stowable seat asdefined in claim 1, wherein a movable T-bar is pivotally associated tothe base of said frame for the purpose of rotating and sliding saidmovable T-bar and guiding the stowable seat between the said stowed andsaid deployed positions, and said movable T-bar having the purpose ofsupporting said stowable seat when in said stowed and deployed positionsby being removably locked in each position.
 3. The stowable seat asdefined in claim 1, wherein said seatbacks are fixedly connected by anarticle such as a welded metal bands and by an article such as a rigidplastic backing directly to said seatbacks.
 4. The stowable seat asdefined in claim 1 wherein said seatbacks are rotatably connected tosaid seatbases by way of two independent pivots located at each end ofsaid stowable seat and a center strut through which runs a centerbearing.
 5. The stowable seat as defined in claim 1, wherein saidseatbacks further comprise a dump mechanism for selectively andreleasably locking said seatbacks in said folded position and beingmovable to said unfolded position or from said unfolded position to saidfolded position in either said stowed or said deployed position.
 6. Thestowable seat as defined in claim 4, wherein said seatbacks arecentrally supported by a said center strut which aids in rotatablyassociating said seatbacks to said seatbases between the folded andunfolded positions by way of said center bearing which runs through saidcenter strut.
 7. The stowable seat as defined in claim 1, wherein saidseatbases further comprise a movable T-bar associated with releasablelocking means which can selectively secure said stowable seat in eithersaid stowed or deployed positions.
 8. The said center strut as definedin claim 6, wherein said center bearing runs from one of said seatbacksto the other said seatback, said center bearing is enclosed by sleeveswhich at one end are attached to the frames of said seatbacks and thefree ends of said sleeves are closely proximate to either side of saidcenter strut.
 9. The stowable seat as defined in claim 7, wherein saidmovable T-bar is slidably and rotatably associated with channels whichare fixedly associated with said seatbases at the bottom thereof toattain the desired position.
 10. The stowable seat as defined in claim7, wherein said stowed locking mechanism and said deployed lockingmechanism further comprised a receiving chamber, and an adjustable screwwhereby said movable T-bar is held firmly in desired position when insaid receiving chamber and in contact with said adjustable screw withineither said stowed locking mechanism or said deployed locking mechanism.11. The stowable seat as defined in claim 7, wherein said stowed anddeployed locking mechanisms further comprise receiving chambers intowhich said T-bar is received and held securely by said adjustablescrews.
 12. The stowable seat as defined in claim 7, wherein saidlocking mechanisms face and open in opposite directions.
 13. Thestowable seat as defined in claim 7, wherein said locking mechanismsoperate on pivots which allow said T-bar to be moved between saidlocking mechanisms, and where said pivots allow said T-bar to beinserted into said receiving chambers.
 14. The stowable seat as definedin claim 8, wherein said adjustable screws at the ends of said channelsnearest the free end of said seatbases provide a stop for said movableT-bar when said seat is in said deployed position and secured by saiddeployed locking mechanism.